Will Your MBA Application Score Top Marks?

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Many MBA application essay sets include a career goals essay question in one form or
another, questions like:
Chicago Booth: What are your short-term and long-term career goals?
Wharton: What are your professional objectives?
Kellogg: Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing an
MBA.
Stanford GSB: What do you want to doREALLY?
In this article, we examine the different elements that comprise an effective career goals
essay and provide excerpts from a sample essay to illustrate lessons that you can apply
when writing your own career goals statement. We would never want to want to suggest
that there is only one structure that works when writing your career goals essay. Rather,
the example and lessons are to help you to develop an approach to writing the essay and
to evaluate whether or not your drafts are achieving the desired effect.
Lesson 1: Articulate your career goals clearly and directly in the introductory paragraph.
One effective way to begin an MBA career goals essay is to begin with a clear summary
of short-term and long-term career goals. The sample essay was written by a private
equity analyst who intends to work in private equity in the former Soviet Union after
graduation. He opens his essay as follows:
Directly out of business school, I want to move to Moscow to work for a leading private
equity group, such as Baring Vostok. Long-term, my goal is to start my own fund in the
former Soviet Union, ideally based in Kiev, where I was born and where most of my
extended family still lives.
Lesson 2: Summarize the connection between your career history and career goals.
You want to establish that your career goals are realistic by explaining how your career so
far has prepared you for the future roles you plan to pursue. When possible specify
relevant skills and experiences that have prepared you for your future professional
objectives. The key is to be brief, especially if you have not been asked explicitly about
your career progress.
In the example essay, our applicant emphasizes his private equity experience:
Although I was honored to be offered a 3rd year analyst position at Deutsche Bank, I
decided to join Astrix partners, a private equity fund with $2 billion in assets. At Astrix, I
have excelled by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of target companies and by
building effective, trusting relationships with the management teams of our portfolio
companies.

Lesson 3: Explain your motivations and why these career goals matter to you.
MBA programs were founded on the belief that business leaders can and do play a
powerful role in contributing to the prosperity of society. Consequently, MBA programs
are looking for future leaders who have a strong desire to make a positive impact in the
world. Schools also want to know that the career goals are meaningful to you.
Later in his goals essay, our case study candidate reveals his motivations and sense of
purpose:
We moved from Kiev to the U.S. when I was eight, but I have managed to maintain
strong ties to my native country. On frequent trips to the former Soviet Union, I have seen
first hand that there is a tremendous need for the kind of investment fund I envision
starting.
Lesson 4: Summarize your career action plan.
Another important building block of an effective career goals statement is your career
action plan it includes the jobs and organizations you plan to work for along the way
toward your long-term career goal. For each job on your path, explain briefly how the
position and role will move you a step closer to your long-term aspirations in terms of
things like additional skills, essential experiences, and a stronger network.
In his career action plan, our example candidate emphasizes his plan to work for an
established fund in the part of the world in which he intends to start his private fund:
By working for a firm in Moscow like Baring Vostok for five to seven years, I will gain
regional private equity experience and key business relationships in Russia and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Lesson 5: Share your career vision.
Ending the essay with a career vision statement can be powerful. Admissions officers at
top business schools welcome grand ambitions, some even expect them. The statement
should describe your vision for fulfilling what you believe to be the underlying purpose
of your career.
In the later stages of his career, the writer of the example essay explains that he want to
spur economic growth in the former Soviet Union both as an investor and eventually an
economic advisor to the government:
Eventually, I want to serve as an economic advisor to the Ukrainian government. New
energy and optimism not to mention capital are critically needed in the former Soviet
Union. I want to be an investor who provides all three.
Final Thoughts
Sharing your excitement about your future career path with admissions officers via your
MBA application essays is an important step toward earning an acceptance letter from a

top MBA program. The coherence and clarity of your career goals essay can serve as an
elegant proof of your desire to be a leader of consequence once you finish your MBA
studies.
The lessons weve shared in this article can help you to ask yourself the right questions at
the outlining phase and afterwards to gauge of the quality of the essay you write to
answer those questions. Ultimately, the goal of your career goals essay is to convince
admissions officers that you are a candidate who will use your MBA education to make a
positive difference in the world. If you succeed, you will almost certainly increase your
chances of being accepted by one of the top business schools.